Sunshine on the Sheldonian
Christopher Wren completed the Sheldonian theatre in 1669 based on the design of the Marcellus theatre in Rome. Unlike Italy, Oxford does not get abundant sunshine so a roof had to be put on. Handel debuted his Oratorio ‘Athalia’ here in 1733. Possibly Mary attended. Alas the Roman’s gave Oxford a wide birth finding the soil too marshy.
The grotesques faces staring out of sets of many found around the city. An early face is carved in the castle crypt. Underneath the oldest tower in Oxford, originally built by the Saxons one thousand years ago is the crypt where dead bodies were stored before burial and after their hanging. There are markings of a Norman soldiers face imbedded on one of the pillars to remind the local Saxons who won the Battle at Hastings.
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Sunday, 13 February 2011
